Certain Shades of Black
by custosCathedra
Summary: Humanstuck AU! Sollux Captor despises coffee, he'd rather chug redbulls till the break of dawn, but it was one of the few flexible jobs as he paid his way through programming school. Eridan Ampora likes his coffee as black as his heart, as dark as his poetry. A coffee shop romance, with a bitter, wicked twist! Trigger warnings listed per chapter.


**Triggers:** Swearing. Mention of furries.

Particular. That was the word. I watched him from the register as he plucked a packet of raw sugar from the self serve bar, smacking it against his hands seven times and setting it on the counter. He repeated the process with another packet, looking about with a sharp gaze. Apprehensive, yet self-assured that every action he made was done perfectly. Soon seven packets lay on the counter-top, four were put back into their bin gingerly. One by one.

"Medium, dark roast, black coffee for Eridan?" I was no longer focused on running the register, rather watching my coworker hand the coffee off to this rigidly postured hipster. He took the coffee with little more than a nod and went off to sit. I don't know what I expected. He was strange, as if his choice of a wool scarf in summer wasn't enough to confirm that.

"You saw that too right?" I was jolted out of my thoughts, my gaze darted down to meet my coworker's eyes.

"I think so, the seven packets?" he had seated himself near a window, putting his sugar in his coffee and gazing out at the grey Seattle weather. A vacant, frosty blue gaze from behind thick lensed glasses.

"Yeah, you think if he likes dark roast he wouldn't put seven packets in, or y'know he could just order it with that and we could totally do that for-"

"Three" her ramble ceased as one of her eyebrows crept up her face, "He only put in three of those packets," my temperature shot up several degrees. I sounded like a certified creep, she was going to think I was some obsessive weirdo...no, no, she couldn't. He was like some zoo animal, hard not to watch...

"Damn Sollux you're observant, I don't think in a million years I would've noticed!" her olive eyes glittered as she looked up into mine, "This is exactly why..." oh no, the glimmer in her eyes sharpened, "You can run the bar by yourself for a bit! I'm going to lunch!" she practically flung her apron off with wild abandon as she bolted.

"Nepeta!"

"Not observant enough!" her rolling, high pitched laughter practically echoed in the near empty cafe. The last I saw of her was the ever present blue clip-on tail she wore, that no matter how many times she was written up, whip around the corner. Fuckin furry. I sighed, I really wasn't on my toes at all. I began to let my mind drift into the ever-pleasant void called auto-pilot and try to give the thoughts of the chestnut haired hipster a rest.

"Ahem,"

"What can I get for you tod-" really. _Really_. Not on my toes. He must be wearing some kind of slipper, I hadn't heard him coming at all.

"A croissant. Please," no excuses Captor. Just focus. Focus. Focus on,...wow he's got one of those wispy white strands in his hair like some fantasy protagonist.

"Uh, sure...almond, chocolate..."

"Butter," of course. Classic, albeit flaky. Heh, like this hipster douchewagon's personality no doubt. Yeah, that's right. Insult his haughty air till it no longer makes you feel suffocated, "Warmed up, if you would be so kind," fuck. FUCK. That insufferable eloquence was like a punch to the throat, I could hardly wheeze out an affirmative and resigned to a nod. The next minute was a daze as I prepped the croissant, stood by the oven staring into space as it warmed.

"Butter croissant for Eridan," it was reflex, he was standing right there at the end of the counter. There was absolutely no need to say his name again. Not one bit. I handed over the croissant with hot cheeks and an all too tight grip on the bag.

"Eri," my chest froze up, but my heart kept beating, faster, harder. Eye contact was made, a smirk was given, I felt like I wanted to punch him in the face. It was magical. Eri, huh. Did he like being called Eri? Was his name actually Eri but he added 'dan' to make it more masculine? Overthinking was my specialty and I had a lot of time to do so, being alone behind the bar on a rainy spring day.

Not long after he had received the croissant, Eri had disappeared outside and the rest of the shift droned on as was normal. Nepeta had returned from her break particularly wired, going on and on about a stray black cat she had befriended in the alleyway behind the store. Something about petting it for the first time after feeding it for weeks. I chuckled to myself, I wish people were that easy to befriend. Maybe if I feed him often enough...


End file.
